(no subject)

[rebells]

Who: Jay and you!
Where: Out and about on the hub island
When: Days 115-118, or thereabouts
Open/Closed: ota!



a. coven organizer coming through

[Jay's plans were put on hold by the sudden appearance of the spirits and all the chaos that came with them, but now that they appear to be gone again, it's time to take stock of what new needs they, and the changing of the seasons that seems to be occurring, might have brought to the coven. He'll be making the rounds of the beach huts and any other residences he knows are populated, knocking on doors with a stack of forms and a notebook in hand:]

Hello. I was just wondering if there was anything you needed at the moment.


b. out and about

[Other than that, you might find him:

i. down on the beach trying out some makeshift carpentry--he's attempting to build a little shelter for the map crate he placed on the beach some weeks ago, to protect it from the elements.
ii. weeding in the mansion garden or the one Haru's planted near the forest;
iii. out with the fishing group in the co-op, teaching newcomers how to use the freshwater tackle he salvaged from the abandoned house;
iv. wandering throughout the island, taking notes in a little notebook.

He'll stop and greet you with a wave if you approach him.]


c. wildcard

[Hit me up at prospit or by PM if you want a personalized starter!]

Comments

b.ii.

[splinten]

[Let's say they're chilling while fishing. Let's say the rest of the group isn't around? And they are in the middle of a conversation.]

We can account for the telepathy and dreams. The bones we had surged, but they didn't lose their power. Correlation may not be causation, but it isn't unreasonable to view telepathy as a kind of circuit running through and Qri, its power source. An alteration to functioning on the circuit could indicate something happening with the power source. All other elements held constant, then that indicates Qri may have done something with the Eltos bones.

Except that not all other elements were held constant. The moon had an effect on the entire are as it moved towards its closest point of approach.

[rebells]

You're suggesting it might also have had something to do with the aberrations we experienced.

[Thoughtful, not really a question. He considers that for a few moments.]

It's certainly not something we can rule out. The primary effect of the moon seems to have been . . . spiritual, if you will. That could tie in to the lowering of boundaries between individuals, as in the shared dreams and telepathic thoughts . . . although it wouldn't explain why those things stopped. I think you're right that Qri almost certainly played a role.

[splinten]

[Dirk has paused while fishing and kind of straightened up a bit, half rising off of his feet. He appears to be visually tracing a fish under the surface of the water.]

Ghosts, zombies, flowers, and apparently angry deer.

What do you make of the ghosts?

[rebells]

[Interesting. He's turned to watch Dirk, although he's still keeping one eye on his own line.]

I strongly suspect they're people who once lived on this land. But you probably could have guessed that. Beyond that . . . I wasn't able to communicate with them, so I don't know. They seemed like ordinary humans living in a relatively peaceful time.

[Almost to himself:] I wonder what happened to detach this place from its planet. If that is how it got here.

[splinten]

The communication would have helped. I can't tell if they're the answer to our question of why everything looks like it was suddenly abandoned, or older spirits. The cemetery, to all evidence, didn't have any corpses. That doesn't tell us much about why these particular spirits would be attached to the land. We don't even know what kind of spirits they are, in the sense of what rules define their existence.

[Dirk's straightened up almost all the way up now. There's a particular stillness to it even as he moves, a precision and focus. It's reminiscent of a cat with its eye on a particularly interesting string.]

The obvious guess would be that this was Qri's planet. That's a hypothesis with nothing to support or deny it except circumstantial simultaneity, making it essentially useless.

[rebells]

No, and I don't suppose we have anyone here whose given power is "Communicate with the dead" . . . some people did seem more attuned to the approach of the moon than others, however. Perhaps we should ask them if they learned anything of value.

[Jay is not going to ask what exactly Dirk is doing--he assumes that'll become clear soon enough--but he is watching with some interest.]

It's an interesting hypothesis, however . . . maybe asking Qri that directly would shock some sort of answer out of her. Provided it's true.

[splinten]

They might at the least have a better understanding of ghosts. Sburb was not actually overabundant with them, as improbable as that seems.
People who died either booted up another life, got incarnated as kernelsprites, or had an unclearly tangible existence in the afterlife of dream bubbles.

[Isn't it obvious, Jay? He's going to dive into the water head-first and pop up holding a rather large fish impaled on his sword. With casual expertise, he flicks it up, decapitates it midair, and bats the corpse to sit beside their spot on land while he catches the head and tosses it over to what will presumably be a compost pile.]

I can't see any harm in trying.

[rebells]

I don't know what half those words mean, and I'm not entirely sure I should ask.

[He golf claps for that athletic display, although his raised eyebrows may belie the fact that he actually is impressed, at least a little.]

Not the most efficient method of fishing, but flashy.

[splinten]

There's no point to consuming calories if you aren't going to use them. Besides which, I could make a convincing argument that this constitutes training and manages to accomplish both sharpening my combat skills and acquiring sustenance.

[Now that Dirk is in the water, it seems like he just wants to fish like this? He's getting that still, predatory posture to him again as his shaded eyes scan the water. Staying still, not moving so that the fish think it is safe to come back.]

And it's fun.

[THERE HE GOES AGAIN, and this time he comes up with three smaller fish: one in each hand and another in his mouth. He tosses the first two to Jay before taking the struggling mouth-fish into his hand and throwing that over too.]

Unless you just don't think you could catch any this way.

[His eyebrows are lifted just barely beyond his shades. Challenge: posed.]

[rebells]

[His eyes flash and he . . . smiles??]

Oh, I wouldn't say that. Are you sure you want to challenge me, though?

[Yeah, he's definitely smiling. He seems pretty cheerful about this whole thing, in a slightly dangerous way.]

[splinten]

My certainty could be described in the form of a high numerical percentage if that were my schtick, but it isn't. Let's go, bro.

[Bring It On]

[rebells]

If you insist.

[He rolls up the legs of his pants and wades into the water gamely. He's silent for a long moment, eyes sharp and alert, tracking the motion of the fish as they dart past his legs. His entire expression has come alive.]

[splinten]

[Okay, Dirk has to watch him have a go. Let's see how Jay handles this kind of fishing.]

[rebells]

[The fish darts between his fingers on the first attempt, and he curses softly. On the second attempt, however--

He snatches the fish out of the water, tosses it high into the air, spins around, and neatly decapitates the fish on its way down, although he has to play hacky sack a couple of times with his knees to grab hold of the now de-headed fish again. Or maybe he's just doing that for effect.

He smiles, and holds the fish out for Dirk's inspection.]

[splinten]

[For his troubles, Jay gets a thumbs up.]

I love hacky sack.

[What he loves is that Jay got into it and they are now engaged in a really dumb fishing competition.]

First to ten fish wins.

[rebells]

[He goes very still at that.

And then he moves.

Dirk didn't say when to go so he is already going?? Better not fall behind, nerd.]

[splinten]

[IN YOUR DREAMS, NERD!!!

Yeah this is what they're doing now.]

[rebells]

[They . . . sure are. This is exactly what they're doing. They are competing to see who can snatch fish out of the water like showoff lunatics faster.

As the coolkids would say:

THIS IS STUPID. ]

[splinten]

[No, it is AWESOME! How dare you.

Dirk will obviously do his best. Gotta get those fish. Gotta win at being a ridiculous water child.]

[rebells]

[Jay is doing his best, too, because he takes competition very seriously. "I simply feel I must know which one of us is truly better."

He hasn't actually done this before, however--at most maybe he's tried one or two times, for a lark--so if Dirk has he is probably faster.]

[splinten]

Ten.

[He slaps down a fish. Because, that's this thread now.

ok, but HOW CLOSE TO JAY COME!]

[rebells]

[Close! Eight or nine, let's say nine for the sake of drama.

He turns around from where he was poised over the water and makes a huffing, 'damn-it' sort of noise.]

Congratulations.

[Is he a sore loser? Only a little.]

[splinten]

[That's kind of hilarious.]

Thanks.

[Dirk's competitive too.]